Railroad crossing barrier



July 18, 1933. J. KLEIN RAILROAD CROSSING BARRIER F L.. J

INVENTOR JKlein BY lls ATTORNEY flW characters on thedrawing.

Patented July 18, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics JAKoB KLEIN, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR. or FIFTY PER CENT T0 MAX BACKER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAIIJROAD c'nossnvc BARRIER I Application filed January 28, 1932. Serial No. 589,329.

' The main object of this invention is the ing vertically slidable in the groove. A band provision of a mechan'ismin combination 21, secured to the wall 19 about th'e weight, with a railroad track whereby the gates at constrains the weight to movement along the a crossing are automatically lowered when groove.

" an approaching train reaches a predeterv -Arr ear 22 extends integrally from the formined point ahead of thecrossing. An audie ward side of the lever 12, and 'inthis ear the ble or visible alarm, or both, may be used ends of two cables, 23 and 24, are secured. in combination with this device, but as both Each gate 26 extends rigidly from a drum such alarms are common, they are not set 25 rotatably supported in uprights'2 7 on 10 forth in'this specification. opposite sides of the crossing. The cables Another object of the invention is the proare secured to the peripheries of the drum in vision of a mechanism as above-mentioned, any suitable manner, such as by a pin 28 as with further means for keeping the crossing shown in Figure 3; A spring-29 is located gates. closed until the train has passed the between the weight 18 and the weight end of 1 crossing, and for re-opening the gates at cable 16, in order to take up shock when the the lattertim cable is suddenly tensed.

The above and other objects will become Opposite the weight 18, below the track apparent in the description below, in which level, a wall 30 and allow 31 are formed. A haracter of reference refer to like-named llOIlZOIllZfl'l bIlCliBl? 32 extends from v I this wall, and in its end a link 33 is pivotally 1 Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure supported. A spring '34 normally draws the 1 is a plan view of a track section and a cross upper end of the. link 33 toward" the wall ing, illustrating the invention. e A hor zontal bar 35, having a roller 36 Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the in its end, 1s slidably mounted on the floor- 5 same. v I 31, and a sleeve 37, attached to the floor, con

.Figure 1-3 i an enlarg d ti l view strains this bar to longitudinalmotion: This taken throughone of the drums which winds bar 35 is pivotally connected to the lower a cable connected to a gate; end of the link 33. Connected pivotally to Referring in detail to the drawing, the the upper endof the link 33, is atlbnghori- 30 numeral lOrepresents the track rails, and 11 zontal bar 38 which extends along the track represents a cam-like extension or projection to-a point somedistance the other side of the on a locomotive, whose function it is to oper crossing. At its farend said bar is pivotally ate the gate-closing and opening mechanism. connected to the lower end of forwardly A lever 12 is pivotallymounted at its end tilted lever 39 pivotally mounted interme- 35 13 toa tieor other suitable means, at a prediate its length to a tie or other means-A determined point alongthe-track, in advance Wall 40 is provided adjacent the lever 39, of the crossing. This lever tilts in the direcand a spring 41 secured to the wall and the tion'of travel of the train and at its upper lever 39 normally pulls the lower end of the end isprovided with a slightly-curved head lever toward the wall. T he'upper end of the 40 14.- which is depressed by the projection 11 lever is provided with a slightly-curved head when the locomotive passes this head. A 42, as shown. 1 rigid arm 15 extends rearward fromthe le- The operation of the device is as follows.- ver 12,and a cable 16 is secured in this arm. Normally the gates are raised, as shown in This cable is trained over a pulley 17, and broken lines in Figure 2, and the cables 23 and 45 at its other end a Weight 18 is supported in 24 are taut between thedrums 25 and the ear suspension. This weight 18 must necessarily 22. Since the amount of rotation of the be heavy, but in order to simplify the illusdrumsrequired to loosen the cables suflicienttration, it has been shown relatively smallly to enable the gates to drop to horizontal A wall 19iprovided with a vertical groove 20 or closed position, is less than a quadrant, it extends adjacentthis weight, the weight beis obvious that lessening the length ofcable between roller 43 and ear 22, or roller 44 and ear 22, only a short distance, will enable the gates to fall of their own weight. The projection 11 on the locomotive causes depression of head 14. and consequent rotation of lever 12. In Figure 2' the lever is shown in depressed position, immediately after the projection 11 has depressed the head 14. By such movement to the left, the lever 12 loosens the cabies 23 and 24 suiiiciently to allow the gates to be lowered of their own weight, as shown in Figure 2. As soon as the weight 18 has been lifted out of its normal position (lowered, in which the roller 36 presses against the weight), the force of springs 34 and 41, both acting in unison, forces the bar 35 and roller 36 to the right, under the weight 18. Figure 2 shows the position of these elements at the instant the weight has been lifted and the bar 35 is ready to move to the right. The roller, then, moves to position under the weight 18 and prevents the latter from falling, thereby retaining the cables 23 and 24 loose and preventing the gates from being lifted. When the train has passed the cross ing and projection-11 strikes head 42 of lever 39, it partially rotates the latter against the force of the spring 11, pushing the bar 38 to the right and causing the bar 35 to be with drawn from its position under the weight 18 to its normal position with the roller to the left of the weight. Hence, with the support removed from under the weight, the latter falls to its original position, again tautening the cables 23 and 24 and causing the gates to rise to the position shown in broken lines.

The springs illustrated in'the drawing are shown schematically rather than practically, and obviously they may be made of solid material and of suitable design to provide the forces required for them to function as described. If the springs 34 and 41 should prove insufiicient, additional springs might be locatedat advantageous points to augment these, for instance along the bar 38.

Obvious modifications in form and structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with crossing gates rotatably mounted intermediate their length and adapted to be raised and lowered by a cable wound on a drum rotatable with the pivot of said gates, movable means mounted adjacent the track and adapted to be depressed by a train passing thereove r, said cable connecting said means with said gates, said cable being normally taut and holding said gates in raised position, depression of said movable means causing loosening of said cable and causing said gates to fall into closed position by gravity, and means for keeping said gates in closed position until the train has passed the crossing.

2; In combination with crossing gates adapted to be raised and lowered, movable means mounted adjacent the track adapted to be depressed by a train passing thereover, cables connecting said means with said gates, said cables being normally taut and holding said gates in raised position, depression of said movable means causing loosening of said cables and thereby causing said gates to fall into closed position by gravity, a weight, means connecting said weight to said movable means whereby depression of said movable means causes lifting of said weight, a slidab'le bar having resilient means normally urging said bar into Contact with said weight, said resilient means causing said bar to slide into position under said weight when said weight has been lifted and thereby retain said cables in loosened condition and said gates in raised position.

3. In combination with crossing gates adapted to be raised and lowered, means mounted adjacent the track on one side of the crossing adapted to be operated by impact of the train for lowering the gates, said means comprising rotatable drums, said gates extending integrally from said drum, cables having their ends fixed to said drums, a lever pivotally mounted adjacent the track and adapted to be rotated by said impact, said cable's being secured to said lever, a weight suspended from said lever and adapted to be lifted by said lever upon rotation of said lever, resilient means normally in contact with said weight and movable into position to snpportsaid weight in lifted position after said weight has been lifted, and means for causing said resilient means to retract from said position to permit said weight to fall and thereby raise the gates to normal position, said last-named means being locatedon the other side of the crossing and being adapted to be operated by impact of the train 4. In combination with crossing gates adapted to be raised or lowered, means mounted adjacent the track on one side of the crossing adapted to be operated by impact of the train for lowering the gates, means mounted adjacent the track on the other side of the crossing adapted to be operated by impact of the train for raising the gates, a weight connected to said first-named means, said weight being lifted by said firstnamed means upon impact of the train with said first-named means, said second-named means comprising a movable member, a re silient member normally urging said mov able member into contact with said weight and into position to support said weight from falling after said weight has been lifted, a relatively long member pivotally connected to said movable member to withdraw said movable member to normal position against the force of said resilient member, a lever pivotally mounted adjacent the track and pivotally connected to said long member, said lever being rotatable b impact therewith to move said 0 draw said movable member to position.

of the train ng member to withsaid normal 5. In combination with crossing gates rotatably mounted intermediate their length adapted to be raised and wound on a drum rotatable with lowered by a cable the pivot of said gates, movable means mounted adjacent gravity.

J AKOB KLEIN. 

